Pinkerton forum aimed at giving Hooksett voters a voice

By RYAN O’CONNORUnion Leader Correspondent

HOOKSETT — The Hooksett School Board, in an effort to determine the most likely reasons Hooksett residents rejected a 10-year pact with Pinkerton Academy, has scheduled a public forum for Monday, April 21.

As part of that effort, the board also established a two-member Pinkerton Academy Vote Analysis Forum Subcommittee, which met this week to discuss the structure for the upcoming public meeting.

“Basically this subcommittee was set up as a means to streamline specific formats and to bring the best possible formats to the board, which will then decide on the best course to invite people to speak on the top reasons they voted the way they did,” said Lizotte, who noted that he and John Lyscars have established two potential recommendations to present to their fellow school board members at their next meeting, which takes place Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Cawley Middle School.

The first option, he said, is to provide a very basic format allowing whoever wishes to speak to approach the microphone and sound off regarding their reasons for or against the previous Pinkerton contract agreement.

The second option, he said, is to set up a number of boxes labeled with various factors as to why the electorate may have voted against the deal. The school board would then provide each person who attends the public forum with two tickets, one red and one blue, to insert into the boxes they believe represent their primary motivation for voting the way they did.

“I would believe, based on discussions with Mr. Lyscars, that both of us believe public input would be important in both cases, no matter what we decide as a board,” said Lizotte.

“What I’ve learned is that the previous board (which negotiated the Pinkerton contract) didn’t allow for enough input from the public,” he continued. “Nothing is perfect, but I think this board looks at the need for public input as extremely important, and I believe we’re going to provide as many public forums as possible to allow people to have their say, whether they’re for or against (a particular proposal) or not yet decided, it doesn’t matter, their opinion is important to us.”